Light cycle oil (hereinafter, referred to as “LCO”), which is cracked light oil produced with a fluid catalytic cracking (hereinafter, referred to as “FCC”) units, contains a large amount of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and have been utilized as diesel or fuel oil. However, in recent years, investigations have been conducted to obtain monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons having 6 to 8 carbon atoms with a high added value (for example, benzene, toluene, xylene, and ethylbenzene) that can be utilized as high octane gasoline base materials or petroleum chemistry feedstocks, from the LCO.
For example, in PTL 1 to PTL 3, there have been suggested methods for producing a monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbon from a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon that is contained in LCO or the like in a large amount, using a zeolite catalyst.